Noted sports surgeon warns against overuse and specialization.

[AlbertFT]

Regarding injuries----

my two sporter (soccer and basketball) does half an hour of the Insanity workout and now his knee is bothering him. So there's that.....

 

Tendonitis....overuse

[Voice of Reason]

I agree on the value of AAU and select. I believe you can do AAU/select and high school in your #1 chosen sport and still play another sport. Am I wrong?

[PurplePride92]

First not all AAU orgs and coaches are crooks and deceiving the youth. Some are and those are the ones you hear about. But others are there to give kids competitive opportunities outside of school ball. I ran an AAU org and not one of our coaches or directors (Me) made a dime off of it. At it's height, we had 14 boys and girls team playing in leagues and tournament. And not one time did I hear any of our coaches telling kids to only play one sport.

 

Now as you get older (approx after freshman year), I feel if you are a good athlete, there is a time to chose the sport you want to focus on. But that doesn't mean that you have to quit other sports. For me that means that you can play the other sports in high school, but you might need to reduce the the select teams you play on down to one sport. You can make it work if you find the right org for you. I also agree with Purple Pride that the work on your focal sport must be on your own with your family or in your back yard. No matter what a select sport coach tells you, it's about the work you put in off the field/court that gives you the edge. This might mean that if your sport is basketball and you want to play soccer for your high school team that you find a way to maintain some of your bball skills on the side. I said "maintain", not workout. Anybody that has the passion for one sport over the other can find some time to work on the sport, even during the season of another sport without causing stress mentally or physically.

 

Also, many want to blame select sports for whats going on. But if you ask just about ANY college coach where they do most of their recruiting, they will tell you at select tournaments and yes, exposure camps and tournaments. Here's why. If you were a college coach, where do you get the best bang for your buck? Let's just take a high school AAU event. Coaches can take one weekend and get to see 100's of kids. And guess what...they are seeing them get tested against the best teams and players in the particular region. You don't get that in high school sports as consistent as select sports. When you go to a high school game, that opponent may not have anyone of the caliber of the athlete they are looking at. They may have one or even two players if the opponent is a great team, but AAU teams play opponents that challege these athletes everytime they take the floor! Where would you go to recruit?? It's a shame, but most college coaches don't even waste their time on high school games until they are already recruiting you and are trying to get you to come to their school.

 

It's a shame that it's come to this, but it is what has evolved. I want my kids to play as many as they want, but I will reccommend they focus on one if they are talented enough to have a shot. Again, not quit the others, just make time to put in extra time on the one they chose.

 

 

Word up!!!

[PurplePride92]

I agree on the value of AAU and select. I believe you can do AAU/select and high school in your #1 chosen sport and still play another sport. Am I wrong?

 

Nope. Not at all.

[hoops5]

I agree on the value of AAU and select. I believe you can do AAU/select and high school in your #1 chosen sport and still play another sport. Am I wrong?

I think so. All depends on the sport and the flexibility of coaches. I know several kids who got soccer and baseball scholly's, but were also key players on the high school basketball team.

[Ram]

I will add that the Reds team doctor, Tim Kremcheck, also is a strong believer in what Dr. Andrews said. I have heard Dr. Kremcheck say on more than one occasion that it is much better for kids development and their health to play more than one sport.

I have to disagree, to a point. I understand what you're, and Dr. Kremcheck, are saying, and even thought I don't know for sure, I suspect he said that because he thought that if a player was playing a different sport, he was getting different movements and lessoning the repetitious strain from one sport. But, in today's reality, playing two or three sports means you are doing them, many times, at the same time.

 

We had a great athlete at Raceland several years back, in the summer, he was coming to the morning football practice, leaving after practice and playing an AAU basketball game, and sometimes playing a summer league baseball game, then coming back and for the evening football practice. He was in the hospital several times his senior year due to dehydration and fatigue. I wonder how that happened? Fortunately, he did end up playing college basketball and being able to get a fee education, but he truly did not develop, physically, until he was in college, which I attribute to over work and unnecessary strain on his body.

[RCC9]

I have to disagree, to a point. I understand what you're, and Dr. Kremcheck, are saying, and even thought I don't know for sure, I suspect he said that because he thought that if a player was playing a different sport, he was getting different movements and lessoning the repetitious strain from one sport. But, in today's reality, playing two or three sports means you are doing them, many times, at the same time.

 

We had a great athlete at Raceland several years back, in the summer, he was coming to the morning football practice, leaving after practice and playing an AAU basketball game, and sometimes playing a summer league baseball game, then coming back and for the evening football practice. He was in the hospital several times his senior year due to dehydration and fatigue. I wonder how that happened? Fortunately, he did end up playing college basketball and being able to get a fee education, but he truly did not develop, physically, until he was in college, which I attribute to over work and unnecessary strain on his body.

 

That is out of control and is one example of an extreme. That kid's parents should control that. We want to blame the orgs for pushing one sport, when in reality it's the parents. Too many parents have this "free education" in their head. So they believe the hype. What happens is they feel little Johnny has to play on the best team in the state to get noticed. So they try out for the best team, hear that teams expectations of playing year round for them, and commit to it and then blame the organization. For some kids and some organizations, that's okay because that's really what the kid and family's goals are. They may only be interested in bball and would love to play year round. Now what happens is a group of kids with the same goals come together and that becomes the rule for that team. Now most of the time when you have a group of kids that are dedicated on reaching a goal together and play year round, that team is probably going to be pretty good and maybe the best. Now you take a kid that wants to play multiple sports competitively and introduce them to this team. The parents go to tryouts, listen and understand the expectations and commit to the team. Now they have a conflict and the coach reminds them of their commitment and says if Johnny misses too much, he may lose his spot. Now all of a sudden it's the coach's and org's fault and they put too much pressure on Johnny. Instead of looking in the mirror and saying "maybe we overcommitted Johnny and didn't spend enough time looking for the right fit for him because we were more interested on Johnny playing on the best team instead of maybe the 2nd or 3rd best that allows for more flexibility. It kills me when I hear that a kid can't find or make a team because he won't commit to the sport exclusively. What they sould really say is my kid can't commit to the level in that sport and should find a different option. You can say it's not fair to Johnny that he can't play on the elite team because of conflicts. They other side of the story is it's not fair to the other 9 kids on the team that do commit to the program THE WAY IT WAS SPELLED OUT TO THE FAMILY! But no, it's the coaches fault.

 

My point is, these families that tell you that Johnny quit football to play whatever...they had their choice to make at one time and they made it. There are plenty of options and that's what they chose. No one held a gun to their head. I'm sure they were given the expectations of the teams and they had a chance to say yes or no. Quit blaming everyone else and look in the mirror!! And if they weren't given the expectations up front, then tell the coach thanks for the opportunities you provided, but we're going to look for something more flexible. But that's still your choice!

[JCVD]

This thread should be split in to two. One about the AAU/Club sports and one about the injuries.

 

In regards to the injuries, many of the overuse injuries are occurring in sports with primarily overhead athletes (baseball and volleyball). With the way the shoulder and elbow are structured the repetitive stress that throwing and hitting a volleyball require put a major wear on the joint and it's structures. There have been studies done showing that many former/current overhead athletes have some form of structural damage to their shoulders from the repetition of the motion whether they know it or not. These were done on athletes who participated in more of a year round program and compared with those who participated in other sports during the year with the year round athlete having the higher percentage of shoulder/elbow issues. You can't argue with the facts that if you participate year round in one sport that the chance of a non-contact injury are going to go up.

[RCC9]

This thread should be split in to two. One about the AAU/Club sports and one about the injuries.

 

In regards to the injuries, many of the overuse injuries are occurring in sports with primarily overhead athletes (baseball and volleyball). With the way the shoulder and elbow are structured the repetitive stress that throwing and hitting a volleyball require put a major wear on the joint and it's structures. There have been studies done showing that many former/current overhead athletes have some form of structural damage to their shoulders from the repetition of the motion whether they know it or not. These were done on athletes who participated in more of a year round program and compared with those who participated in other sports during the year with the year round athlete having the higher percentage of shoulder/elbow issues. You can't argue with the facts that if you participate year round in one sport that the chance of a non-contact injury are going to go up.

 

I would agree with this as the injuries go. The overhead motions are not natural and cause the stress on the joint. But for other movements in sports, I think some of this is still over reacting. When I grew up, I played all 3 major sports. Baseball, football and basketball. So I stayed busy year round anyway. When I wasn't at a practice or game, I was running around the neighborhood or riding my bike to the nearest bball court to play pickup games. My point, I was always on the move and doing something athletic whether is was structured by a coach or not.

 

Today, all the "free time" is now taken up by structured practices and more games. So the amount of time that is being spent doing something athletically is virtually the same. We just do it with our teams now instead of down at the neighbors house or in the local public gym.

 

Also, besides the overhead sports, all the other movements, cuts, explosions are pretty much the same. So whether you're playing one sport or the other, they all require movement that is fast and quick, front and back and side to side!

 

We can argue about joint wear and tear (and i agree with the overhead stuff), but if our kids are athletes, they will be out doing something anyway, even if you made then take 2 months off of the organized stuff. They would go work out on their own, go play pick up games, run, swim, ride bikes. Athletes can't sit still! They get bored! And heck, if your son or daughter was "resting" on the couch for 2 months, you'd tell them to get outside and do something!

 

My point is, kids/athletes are going to stay active. They will be doing something. What's the difference if they are at soccer practice vs. going to get a couple buddies and playing 2on 2 in the side yard.

 

And doesn't exercise create strong joints, ligaments and tendons that help deter injury? The more active you are, the stronger your joints become.

 

What may really be the root cause is not the wear and tear on the athletes, but moreso that they are put in competitive situation more often now and it's actually the number of opportunities to get hurt is what is really driving up the sports related injuries, not the wear and tear. If Johnny plays soccer year round and Mike plays his first game in a year, either of them have the same chance to blow their knee out in the game. But Johnny may go to the emergency room way more often than Mike because he plays year round...which increases the number of chances that he could get hurt. But it's not because he didn't rest!.

[woodsrider]

I'm obviously not as smart as Dr. Andrews but I pretty much disagree with this. All sports require pretty much the same core movements. Running, jumping, cutting, ect. Do how is playing multiple sports throughout the year going to reduce the risk of injury versus just playing 1 sport.

[JCVD]

I'm obviously not as smart as Dr. Andrews but I pretty much disagree with this. All sports require pretty much the same core movements. Running, jumping, cutting, ect. Do how is playing multiple sports throughout the year going to reduce the risk of injury versus just playing 1 sport.

 

Because of how the movements are being done. Throwing a baseball is different than throwing a football, which is different than spiking a volleyball, which is different than shooting in LAX. Doing something the same way for prolonged amounts of time will cause break down.

 

During the deceleration phase of throwing, pitching specifically, extremely high forces are generated by the musculature of the rotator cuff. Putting something under such great amounts of stress for long amounts of time will lead to higher incidences of trauma. The way in which force and stress is applied to the shoulder needs to be changed, or given a rest, to cut down on the likelihood of injury.

 

In regards to jumping and cutting, yes that is basically seen in every sport in one form or another. Injuries most often associated with jumps and cuts are more often related to poor mechanics on the landings and muscular imbalances between the quadriceps and hamstrings. Injuries like that can be reduced with proper coaching and strength training.

[AlbertFT]

I'm obviously not as smart as Dr. Andrews but I pretty much disagree with this. All sports require pretty much the same core movements. Running, jumping, cutting, ect. Do how is playing multiple sports throughout the year going to reduce the risk of injury versus just playing 1 sport.

 

No they do not. If you read the article, baseball was mentioned. What other sport can you compare to baseball. He talked about throwing the curveball...again. Playing too many "organized" or "game speed" sports will likely lead to an overuse injury. I don't know if you are/were a super athlete but the body breaks down, when it does too much of the same thing. Most HS coaches coach their kids safely and knowledgeable.

[Jim Schue]

Because of how the movements are being done. Throwing a baseball is different than throwing a football, which is different than spiking a volleyball, which is different than shooting in LAX. Doing something the same way for prolonged amounts of time will cause break down.

 

During the deceleration phase of throwing, pitching specifically, extremely high forces are generated by the musculature of the rotator cuff. Putting something under such great amounts of stress for long amounts of time will lead to higher incidences of trauma. The way in which force and stress is applied to the shoulder needs to be changed, or given a rest, to cut down on the likelihood of injury.

 

In regards to jumping and cutting, yes that is basically seen in every sport in one form or another. Injuries most often associated with jumps and cuts are more often related to poor mechanics on the landings and muscular imbalances between the quadriceps and hamstrings. Injuries like that can be reduced with proper coaching and strength training.

 

Gunplay at the Los Angeles Airport is considered a sport now?

[RCC9]

Because of how the movements are being done. Throwing a baseball is different than throwing a football, which is different than spiking a volleyball, which is different than shooting in LAX. Doing something the same way for prolonged amounts of time will cause break down.

 

During the deceleration phase of throwing, pitching specifically, extremely high forces are generated by the musculature of the rotator cuff. Putting something under such great amounts of stress for long amounts of time will lead to higher incidences of trauma. The way in which force and stress is applied to the shoulder needs to be changed, or given a rest, to cut down on the likelihood of injury.

 

In regards to jumping and cutting, yes that is basically seen in every sport in one form or another. Injuries most often associated with jumps and cuts are more often related to poor mechanics on the landings and muscular imbalances between the quadriceps and hamstrings. Injuries like that can be reduced with proper coaching and strength training.

 

Okay, then they is should say baseball pitchers, QB's and volleyball hitters should limit their activities. The rest of the movements my kids do whether they are at practice/game or not. Heck, playing tag in the side yard is strenuous! Short bursts, explosion, cuts, jumping, etc. Should they only ride their bikes a certain amount per week? Repetitive motion on those kness! Should they swim only a certain amount?

 

I can agree with the overhead shoulder movements, but the other stuff is crazy. If you abuse anything, it will wear down. That has to be controlled by the parents. And 85-90% of the parents I know control it pretty well.

[JCVD]

Okay, then they is should say baseball pitchers, QB's and volleyball hitters should limit their activities. The rest of the movements my kids do whether they are at practice/game or not. Heck, playing tag in the side yard is strenuous! Short bursts, explosion, cuts, jumping, etc. Should they only ride their bikes a certain amount per week? Repetitive motion on those kness! Should they swim only a certain amount?

 

I can agree with the overhead shoulder movements, but the other stuff is crazy. If you abuse anything, it will wear down. That has to be controlled by the parents. And 85-90% of the parents I know control it pretty well.

 

First...calm down.

 

Second, I mentioned all of the above because they are all different. Go from being a pitcher in the spring to being a quarterback in the fall to playing volleyball in the winter. They are all different movements in regards to how they stress the the shoulder.

 

The article was about throwing athletes then went off on a tangent. Jumping and cutting is perfectly fine. Go for it year round. I'm saying that there are ways to reduce the injury rate with proper programming and implementation.